The deadliest school attack

There has been considerable media verbiage that the Virginia Tech shooting was the deadliest school attack in U.S. history. Turns out they needed to go back into the 1920s to get the true story.

It’s been reported that the violence at Virginia Tech is the deadliest school attack in U.S. history.

Unfortunately, it would appear that isn’t true. It is, perhaps, the deadliest shooting spree at a school – beating the record set by Charles Whitman at the University of Texas in 1966 – but if you’re considering any and all attacks on schools, the deadliest still remains the 1927 attack on a school in Bath, Michigan, where 45 people were killed and 58 people injured.

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Andrew Kehoe was upset by a recent property tax that had been established to help fund the construction of the school – a tax which resulted in financial troubles for the school board member, including the foreclosure of his farm.

Over a period of months Kehoe acquired a ton of pyrotol – a World War 2 era incendiary – and two boxes of dynamite. Some of this he planted in the school, some he planted on his farm.

Just prior to his attack, he loaded the back of his car with metal debris, and placed a small amount of dynamite behind the front seat. Sometime later, he murdered his wife.

On May 18, 1927, at 8:45 a.m., Kehoe detonated the explosives he had planted on his farm, then entered his car and drove to the school.

At 9:45 a.m., there was an explosion at the school, which collapsed the north wing.

Firefighers that had been heading towards Kehoe’s farm turned back and headed towards the school.

At approximately 10:15 a.m., Kehoe arrived at the school and noticed the superintendent, who he motioned to approach the car, which the man did.

At this point – according to an eyewitness – Kehoe shot his rifle into the backseat of the car, which appeared to trigger an explosion, destroying the car, and killing Kehoe, the superintendent, and three others.

Which only goes to prove that a disturbed and homicidal individual will find a way to commit mayhem and the chances of stopping him beforehand are negligible to nil.

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This entry was posted on May 4, 2007 at 5:25 pm and is filed under History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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4 Responses to “The deadliest school attack”

As of yet, only three injured victims are still living, Marian Markham, Donald Jay Huffman, and Bob Dickinson (Dickinson is a descendant of a very old family and descendant of a Norwegian Viking Ivar.) I hope the bomber’s ancestors should apologize (on behalf) of the victims’ ancestors. I know a distant cousin of Emory Huyck, a woman from Moffat County, and her name is Lorinda Ann Huyck. Lorinda is no longer living, and God rest her soul. I hope they should have a reunion of the ancestors of victims of Bath, Michigan bombing. The victims are going to cease to exist in the next 10-20 years.